Sri Lanka | Black Pork Curry

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED

I knew absolutely nothing about Sri Lankan food before this project so I didn’t know what to expect from their cuisine. I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice variety of dishes influenced by Indian, Dutch, and Portuguese flavors! I have a little list of recipes I hope to come back to once I’ve completed the project.

I had a few curries on the list and decided to let the grocery store tell me which one to make. Pork was on sale so Black Pork Curry won. (I did have to order tamarind paste and roasted curry powder online.) I could have roasted the curry spices myself but the large bag of roasted curry powder I found online cost less than if I’d purchased the individual ingredients to make it myself.

This wasn’t especially difficult to make. It did require breaking out the mortar and pestle to grind up cardamom pods and peppercorns to go in the marinade but that’s not difficult, just a little time consuming. And the pork needs to marinate for several hours so this isn’t something you can throw together at the last minute. There’s some chopping and mincing of onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno peppers too. I just throw on some music while doing the prep and I have a good time.

The cooking process requires one pan that you throw the ingredients into in a specific order and then you let everything simmer for awhile. I prepared jasmine rice to go with it because I was in the mood for it but Basmati or plain old white rice would be good with it. Or naan.

The end result was flavorful and spicy but not too hot for me. The tamarind paste added a tang that really complemented the spices and made it unique. The pork was so tender, like melt in your mouth tender, yum. I really really enjoyed it!

Would I make it again? YES!